


Woven

by cabbageboy



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Biting, Comfort, F/F, Fluff, Gentle Sex, Love, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Praise Kink, Smut, Soulmates, True Love, honorable mention of Shadow Weaver's A+ parenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:35:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28120992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cabbageboy/pseuds/cabbageboy
Summary: They belonged to each other, a tapestry woven from two different fabrics. It was instinctual, the connection they had.Catra goes into her first heat after the end of the war, her body finally feeling safe.Adora knows her better than she knows herself, sometimes.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 23
Kudos: 327





	Woven

“Hey Adora I- huh.” 

Adora looks up from her desk and turns to the doorway where Catra is standing, peeking her head in with a brow raised in question. Wisps of short hair swoop in front of an eye and curl around her ears. As she steps quietly into the room she closes the door behind her.

A smile pulls at the corners of Adora’s lips, a warm weight settling in her chest. She closes the notebook she was writing in, saves her place in the scroll on her desk, and peels off the blanket that had been resting over her legs. She stands, quickly making her way to meet her love by the door. 

“What’s up?” She asks as she plants her hands on Catra’s waist, squeezing lightly and stroking with her thumbs before pulling her closer.

“Did you change our sheets?” She could have sworn when they left for breakfast that morning their sheets were white, and the set on the bed was a deep shade of blue.

“Oh, yeah,” She whispers, placing a kiss on Catra’s forehead before nuzzling into her hair, putting her arms around her and stroking up her back with one hand while using the other to guide Catra’s head to tuck into her neck.

“You know you don’t have to do all of our chores right? I can do our laundry,” A muffled voice says, teasingly.

Adora blushes a little and chuckles.

“I know, you just had a meeting early and I wanted to get it done. No big deal!” 

Catra’s eyes narrow, the reply coming out a little too light and breathy, fingers rubbing a little too anxiously and palms sweating. Her ear twitches as she takes in the pace of the heart thundering below her. She isn’t sure why Adora is lying to her about chores, because it's probably the least stressful thing either of them has ever dealt with. If she really doesn’t want to tell her about it right now, she’ll just have to work the details out of her later. 

“Sure. Well I came by because our meeting with the representatives from Elberon and Thaymore ended early, shockingly,” She sighs heavily just thinking about it, finally able to release the dramatic eye roll she had been holding in for the last few hours. For being the two smallest towns in Brightmoon’s territory, the governors sure had a lot to talk about and a lot of demands to make. It was impressive, really, how much time they were capable of wasting and how many resources they had the nerve to ask for.

“Anyway, do you want to go for a walk before lunch? I know you were trying to get a little more paperwork done because you’ll be stuck in the _war room_ all day tomorrow, but you really do need to start taking breaks...” She trails off, pulling her face out from its spot on her girlfriend’s collar bone to look up at her.

“Yeah, I’d love to! I was getting restless sitting at my desk and the full day of, well sitting at the _meeting room_ table tomorrow is going to be torture if I don’t move a little,” She releases her grip and turns to walk over to her closet. She returns in a different hoodie, with a jacket layered over top of it.

Catra briefly wonders why Adora changed sweatshirts and why she didn’t just grab her jacket that was draped off of the back of her desk chair, but shakes the thought from her head. If she wants to wear a new sweatshirt and jacket instead of the horrible red jacket that Catra _still_ hadn’t managed to get her to get rid of, who was she to question it?

***  
The palace ballroom is absolutely filled with people. Lunch had been a massive affair every day since, well since the end of the world. It was around the time in the early afternoon that the Princess Alliance and their Advisors broke for lunch, but the ballroom was usually like this regardless of the time. The kitchens operate at all hours to accommodate citizens whether they be stopping by from a neighboring town for the afternoon in search of food, or spending the night in one of the many rooms lined with beds for those who were waiting for their homes to be rebuilt. Long buffet tables stacked with food lined the walls, while the center of the room was arranged with massive round tables and chairs.

The number of guests hadn’t dwindled over time, just shifted depending on who no longer needed help and who couldn’t stand to wait any longer. In spite of all of the progress they were making in the reconstruction efforts, it didn’t look like they would have a quiet lunch in the palace any time soon. That was ok with them though, because the years of war caused all of the princesses to lose touch with their citizens, and Queen Glimmer thought the opportunity to connect with her subjects was both enriching and enlightening, if not equally unbearable and irritating. She appreciated the insight they gave, and could tell that they appreciated her hands on approach to tackling their problems head on. Catra had put it best when she suggested that they open the halls for those in need, stating that if the kingdom wasn’t for the people, who was it for? 

Children ran up to them as soon as they walked in, hanging off of Adora’s arms and grabbing at Catra’s tail. The two laughed, each picking up the smallest to haul up on to their shoulders and reaching out a hand to grasp a tiny fist in their remaining palms. Ushering the group of giggling children back to their families was their favorite part of the commotion of the lunch room. It had taken Catra a while to get used to the attention, awkwardly laughing while training narrowed, apprehensive eyes at the tiny people hanging off of her girlfriend. It was as much her distaste for attention as it was her fear that the parents would remember her, remember what she had done and tear their children away in a commotion that would draw even more attention while reminding the princesses exactly where she came from and how little she deserved their kindness. However, months ago when a wide eyed toddler stumbled up to her, staring up at her ears, she couldn’t help the smile that overtook her. She kneeled down, nodding with a gentle smile. They reached out tentative hands and with a feather touch stroked the shell of one of her ears, pulling their hand back with a squeal and erupting into giggles when it involuntarily twitched. She picked them up and set them on her shoulders, holding her hands up to grasp their smaller ones, and that was the moment the children became equally obsessed with Catra.

After returning the children to their parents, exchanging pleasantries with them, the couple made their way around the buffet tables and gathered food for themselves before finding the table that their friends occupied, having already started eating themselves. They made conversation, talking about their schedules for the rest of the day and planning the next time they could all get together for fun instead of work.

“What about this weekend?” Perfuma suggested.

Adora choked briefly on the sandwich she was eating, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Um, this weekend doesn’t work for me? How about next weekend?” She says, blushing.

The dull roar of conversation mixed with laughter and the clinking of silverware bothered Catra’s sensitive ears most of the time, but today it was overwhelming. Even she found something incredibly suspicious about the way Adora was acting.

She turned to her girlfriend and raised an eyebrow, and Adora just shrugged.

“I don’t know, just a feeling I guess?”

She dropped it for now in favor of finishing her food, hoping they could get out of the hustle and bustle of the lunch room before the ache in her head turned into a throb.

***  
Their bedroom was warm and safe, exactly the break Catra needed after lunch for just a few minutes, to reset her brain in preparation for the rest of her work day. The brief recess to the comforting aroma of just their two scents and no one else's did wonders for her nerves, and she felt herself relaxing into Adora’s embrace as she sat on her lap in the armchair by the window. Fingers of sunlight slashed through their open blinds and she can feel it sear the skin beneath her fur, a sleepy lull washing over the two, Adora’s focus tunneling in as she stroked her back with one hand and that spot just behind her ears with the other.

The room is stuffy, weird for the middle of the day since Adora liked to keep the window open while she worked. Not that Catra was complaining, the stagnant air filled with Adora’s scent from her day occupying the room soothed her and dragged her further down into an almost meditative state. It was quiet except for her rumbling purr and Adora’s accompanying hum, an unconscious habit she had picked up when they were children and without even knowing what it meant her soul wished so desperately to release a comforting purr back at her friend. It wasn’t as loud, but the effect was instantaneous. Catra found herself feeling hazy, a fog blanketing her as her own purr, Adora’s hum, and the hands stroking her gently worked her deeper into a space she normally couldn’t achieve in the middle of the day when she was focused on her internal to-do list. It also made getting up all the more torturous, though it was necessary that they both get through the remainder of their work for the day. Tomorrow was a full schedule, but after that they got the whole weekend to themselves.

It had been months since the end of the war, and she still couldn’t believe she was capable of feeling this warm, this safe. She thought the feeling was naïve, that it went away with her best friend’s betrayal and would never come back because the feeling itself was weakness. She thought the further she sunk down into destruction the further away she got from ever being allowed to feel like this. Loving Adora, sharing a home and a life with her, was all she had ever wanted, and more than she thought she deserved. 

All too soon Adora walks her to the door and pulls her in, her lips slanting across Catra’s in a bruising, memorable kiss to get them through the rest of their day. She leans up and places another on her forehead, smiling against her in front of their bedroom door so she can return to the mountain of paperwork on her desk and Catra can hit another meeting with Glimmer.

“See you at dinner?” She whispers, rubbing Catra’s back and scratching at her spine near the base of her tail, a trill interrupting her purr.

“Yeah, I have a few more meetings and then Glimmer and I were going to go over her schedule for next week,” The gentle reply dripped from her mouth, molasses falling from a spoon, as her eyes rolled back a little at the soothing touch.

“Ok, well don’t get too crazy with the planning. I know how you get about logistics.”

“Ok dummy, I’ll make sure not to think too hard,” She teases as she turns, giving Adora a glance before leaving the room. Just as she turns back to close the door behind her she catches a glimpse through the crack of Adora changing sweatshirts again, pulling another blanket out of the closet to wrap around her shoulders as she sits down.

***

“Why are you wearing a hoodie?” Bow asked as he walked into the gym that evening, spotting Adora leaned against a squat rack, breathing heavily. 

“Hey, Bow,” She said brightly, if a little out of breath, glancing at the watch on her wrist before ducking back under the barbell to take a wide stance.

“So...Why the sweatshirt? You uh, look a little hot there bud,” He says again, standing next to her and making eye contact with her in the mirror in front of them as she lifts the barbell onto her shoulders.

“Oh! Uh, it's...cold in here?” She responds, looking anywhere but at him, holding onto the tattered shreds of the lie she just attempted. She continues her set, turning her focus to her form. Bow picks up a kettlebell and does a few swings, getting ready for his set in the squat rack. The dynamic motion helped warm his shoulder up, years of war wearing away at the rotator cuff on his shooting arm.

“Uh huh. It is?” Amusement evident on his face, eyes shimmering and grinning broadly.

“Yeah! Uh yep it's just chilly in here today.”

“Is that why you’re sweating? And does this have anything to do with the reason you switched our workout time today?”

She doesn’t respond, taking a deep breath in as she descends and grunting on her way up, shaking slightly but pushing through the final rep in this set before racking the weight again and turning to Bow.

“It’s really weird, and I have no idea why, is the short answer. I didn’t even realize I was doing it at first. I just got a feeling when I woke up, like something was different. Not bad though, just different. I started getting irritated a little bit, like a tickle in my brain. I wasn’t even really thinking. Something in my chest just tugged hard at the idea of leaving Catra this morning, which is why I told you I needed to switch our workout to tonight. After breakfast it was like I was on autopilot, changed sweatshirts and pulled a blanket over my lap and even though I was so hot I didn’t even open the window. I still don’t really know why but every few hours I just get a _feeling_ , and changing shirts or putting on a sweater usually fixes it? I even changed our sheets this morning but when I was about to take them to actually wash them it's like my brain zapped me and I dropped them. I just have a big pile of sheets and blankets and jackets in my closet that the back of my mind won’t let me deal with...” She trails off, confused by her own behavior and the lack of control she seemed to have over this new impulse.

Bow doesn’t look surprised, which weirds her out a little considering what she just described has been concerning her, but it also comforts her. It can’t be too bad if he doesn’t even look worried.

“You know what's going on with me?”

Bow quirks an eyebrow and purses his lips, “Has Catra gone into heat before?”

Well the confusion is back full force because she has no idea why that is where Bow’s thoughts are going when Adora was the one acting weird, not Catra.

“Yeah, she started getting them a couple of years before I met you and Glimmer, she had it a few times while we were in the Fright Zone.”

“Has she had one here yet?”

“No, and she mentioned a couple of months ago that she hadn’t had one since I left the Horde. Should we be worried? The thought that it hasn’t happened in years is scaring me a little bit.”

“No, no it makes sense. It was extremely stressful. She was going through a lot, you both were. It’s pretty common for heats to just stop when the situation is too stressful or there is too much trauma to process because the body knows it's not safe,” He says, causing shock to appear on Adora’s face.

“Wait, how did you know all of that?”

“Oh, well I grew up in the library in the middle of the Whispering Woods, and sometimes we would get visitors, nomads that were wandering through. You learn all kinds of things about other species when you’re...a kid who doesn’t know what questions are...inappropriate,” His voice gets a little quieter toward the end, a blush tinging his cheeks as he looks away, focusing on the plates he is putting on the barbell in preparation for his sets of squats.

Adora snorts, “Ah, gotcha.”

Adora thinks for a moment about that. Her mind goes to that first night after the fall of Horde Prime, how they all but collapsed onto a sleeping pad together in the first tent they could find after making a game plan for the next few days with the rest of the alliance. Adora was hesitant at first but remembered that there was finally, after all this time, no one trying to take Catra away from her. She had wrapped her arms around her and slipped a hand under her shirt, stroking the soft fur on her back and tracing the ridges of her spine. She had curled her body around Catra’s, the shorter woman tucking her face into Adora’s neck and vibrating with a violent purr that had been holding itself in for so long.

_“You’ve never held me like this before,” Catra whispered._

_“We’ve never been safe before.”_

_They held each other, tears and whispers, feelings new and old swirling around them._

_And they started to heal._

Bow’s warm voice brings her back to the present, “So what did you do when she went into heat back then? What was it like for her?”

The gears are turning, and Adora is starting to connect the dots but her part in this story is still confusing to her.

“She would leave, go hide somewhere small and dark where Shadow Weaver and any ranking officers couldn’t find her. She would take blankets, clothes, anything soft and comforting with her. I thought it was so she would have something to wear while she was gone for a few days but I found her. I always knew where her hiding spots were, and she was curled up in the middle of a little nest. The first time I sat just outside of it, because I didn’t want to get into her space, but eventually she would invite me in and we would lay there together,” She rubs a tear from the corner of her eye, sniffling at the memories.

Catra’s heat was a sensitive topic for her, the weakness and vulnerability made her feel bare and worn and exhausted. The loss of the logical part of her brain and giving in to instinct was always hard for her when she grew up being told how wrong it was, how different she was, how disgusting that instinct made her. Shadow Weaver made it clear that it was an embarrassing, disgraceful affliction that was not to be shared with the other cadets. She wouldn’t be punished for it, as long as the witch didn’t have to see her. She hadn’t had to deal with it in years, pushing her instincts down and overworking herself to the point where her mental health was hanging on by a tiny thread that frayed more and more each passing day. Now that the sorceress’s threats held no weight, her death providing a fraction of relief along with the encouragement and love from her new found family, she was starting to heal, to trust, to allow herself to give in when her instincts demanded. 

Heat was a sensitive topic to Adora because it reminded her just how thoroughly she had abandoned Catra, just how deep her betrayal ran. She was truly the only thing that made Catra feel safe growing up, and after getting to know each other so intimately that her own instincts were woven into Catra’s, she had left her there alone in that darkness, that toxic solitude that came with being other, being different, and being punished for it. Catra allowed her into her nest, shared with her a part of her so special that although she didn’t know exactly what it meant at the time, it fused her own instincts with Catra’s in those days she was in heat. Catra’s needs were woven into the fabric of her being, etched into the inside of her skull, welded to her spine. The feeling she always got when she was around Catra, when the woman she loved would let go and allow herself to give in, set her cells on fire and tingled her fingers, burning her eyelids and giving her tunnel vision. In those cold, damp crevices in the Fright Zone Adora belonged to Catra, and Catra belonged to her in return.

There were things they had worked through, memories and trauma they had dealt with together in the last few months. They had grown, separately and together, allowing themselves to live, learn, heal, forgive. They relearned each other and themselves. Yet it appeared that this one thing, this one dynamic to their relationship, was still left unquestioned, a patch of soil that hadn’t been tilled, a wound left open. 

She knew Catra trusted her now. She had gained back the trust Catra had in her when they were younger, before the war tore them apart, and she had learned to trust Catra again as well.

But that wasn’t what she was worried about, what made her skin crawl and her heart race.

Catra had trusted Adora with her heat before, with that part of herself that was such a base instinct, a function of her body and mind together. Did she deserve that trust back, when she had thrown it away so readily?

Bow gives her another warm smile and a pat on the shoulder and says, “I think I know what's going on, but I think it would be more beneficial to you if you just let yourself feel, and process what you’re feeling in your own time. But trust me when I say that I think what you’re going through is totally normal, and is less of a worry than you might think.”

***  
Catra woke up completely and utterly miserable, body burning from the inside out. Her skin crawled, itched. Tiny jolts of pain shot through her throbbing head and down her spine with each buzz of Adora’s alarm clock, which found itself shattered on the ground before she even realized her arm had moved. She growled low and dangerously in frustration, claws emerging from their sheaths and digging into the mattress as she kneaded, trying to work out the intense tickle in her finger tips.

Well fuck, she hadn’t expected to wake up in heat today.

She felt Adora turn over and wrap her arms around her, spooning her and trapping her in a tight embrace. It should have made the miserable temperature of her body worse, but it soothed the throb in her head ever so slightly.

“You ok baby? ‘S early, you sound upset,” Adora whispered in her ear and yawned, a shiver running through Catra at the lips ghosting against her.

“Hot,” She whined, still having it together enough to roll her eyes at her less than eloquent response.

“Oh. Are you, ya know… in heat?” 

“Yeah.”

“So that’s why Bow was asking…”

“Hmm?”

“I’ll tell you later. What do you need?” Adora sits up, pulling herself away and looking down at her girlfriend.

“You,” the whine is needier this time, being ripped away from the strong arms that encircled her made the fire within her rage.

“I’m gonna go get us breakfast, ok? Is it ok if I leave? We’re going to need to eat. I’m going to get enough for lunch too so I don’t have to leave again,” She asks, a hand strokes along the nape of her neck.

“Why can’t we get someone to bring it to us so you can stay with me?”

“If someone brings it to us I’ll have to answer the door and… their scent will get in,” She whispers, not wanting any scent but her own and Catra’s in this room until her heat was over.

Catra hums her agreement and says, “Good point.”

“When I get back, I’m not leaving you again ok? I’ll be right here for whatever you need, Kitten.”

Adora gets up, the pained whimper from the bed pulling her stomach violently, and gets dressed into a fresh pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, knowing that she would likely be returning to bed the second she got back. She kisses Catra on the forehead, brushing hair out of her eyes and leaning her face down so she can nuzzle her jaw, knowing that her instincts would be telling her to scent mark her before she left the room.

“Adora? Hurry back. Please.”

Adora doesn’t sprint, but she certainly isn’t walking as she makes her way down the hall to the kitchen.

When she returns, everything she had been feeling the previous day, and her strange behavior finally makes sense and she nearly slaps herself for not realizing it.

There, in the center of their bed, is Catra, surrounded in a nest of all of the shirts, hoodies, blankets, and sheets that Adora had been piling in her closet since she woke up yesterday morning. She was kneading at a flannel shirt, the woven cotton pilling in her claws, with her nose buried in the pillow that Adora was sleeping on all night.

It finally clicked. 

Her instincts, her most basic level of function, was woven so tightly with Catra’s that she knew what she needed before her love’s body could even catch up. 

Maybe Catra’s scent changed, or her pheromones were stronger, or some deep connection told Adora that her girlfriend was about to go into heat, reaching out to her for help. Without even thinking, her soul responded to the call, and she had been unconsciously gathering nesting materials, covering them in her scent, so that when Catra needed them they would be there for her to comfort her and blanket her in peace and care when her head was hazy and her body was running itself. Everything she did yesterday made sense now, changing the sheets, changing sweatshirts, keeping the window closed to trap her scent within, turning their bedroom into a cave of security and comfort just for her. Something in her knew what Catra needed, knew how to take care of her, knew what she needed to do to make her feel safe and loved.

How long had she been like this? Or had her body always known how to react, how to take care of Catra? Looking back on those times when they were still in the Fright Zone, she remembered the physical pain, the feeling of being inadequate, when she knew Catra was about to go into heat and she wasn’t allowed to help her, wasn’t allowed to even act like she knew what was going on. Having to drag herself out of Catra’s nest to get to training on time when all she wanted was to comfort, to protect, to stay with her and the idea of leaving no matter how little control she had over the situation made her ill and nauseated.

Her genetic material was fused with Catra’s, her girlfriend’s stardust looped between strands of her very DNA. It made her nerve endings tingle and the hair on the back of her neck stand up, and the realization that she was so in tune with what her love needed at her most vulnerable drew a tear to her stinging eye.

“Can you please get in here already?” A soft voice broke her from her thoughts and she could see Catra’s eyes, pupils blown wide, looking at her through drooping eyelids over the edge of the nest while her knuckles tightened and loosened around the fabric in front of her.

Adora goes to her, walks until her knees knock the side of the bed and stands there waiting for permission.

“Are you sure?” She asks, her insecurity from yesterday peaking out.

“Please.”

***  
“How are you feeling?”

Catra knew what the question really meant. Adora wanted to talk about it first because, well, of course she did. She wasn’t particularly interested in talking, was barely interested in the fruit and toast Adora insisted she ate after getting into her nest with her. 

It’s hot in their room by now, the same stagnant air from yesterday warming her. Her skin is on fire and her heart thunders in her chest. The fingers of sunlight shining through the glass panels and making their way through their curtains bathe the room sepia.

It feels like the pages of a newspaper when it sits alight at the base of a pile of firewood, ready to erupt and give in to flame. Yet it's not uncomfortable, and in a weird way it's just the opposite.

Truth be told, she is a little conflicted. Her heats in the Fright Zone, and Adora’s part in them, weren’t about sex at the time. It was about her being there to make her feel safe and comforted, and in a roundabout way (that she feels a little silly for never admitting) loved. So even though they’ve obviously had sex before in the near year since the end of the war, and she knows that that’s what heats are about for some people, she really doesn’t know if that is what she wants or needs right now. Maybe she isn’t deep enough in it yet, and that is why Adora wants to talk, to figure out what she needs and what she should and shouldn’t do.

Another thought hits her, and she considers for a moment that maybe Adora wants to talk because she is the one who is uncomfortable, and wants to set ground rules, limits for what they do together while Catra is in heat. And while she thinks about it, she really wants to know how Adora knew she was getting ready to go into heat, since she didn’t change clothes every hour and leave them in a pile in her closet for no reason.

“How did you know?” Is the question she settles on.

Adora blushes, leaning forward to place a kiss on Catra’s forehead before leaning back and closing her eyes, humming to herself. She continues the path of her fingers up and down Catra’s spine, the thumb on the other hand worrying her lover’s lower lip innocently as she considers her words.

“I just sort of felt… off. Like my body or my mind was trying to tell me something and I couldn’t really figure it out. I didn’t even really do anything consciously. It was like, I would get a feeling, like an itching just under my skull or my hands would flex, and then I would find myself walking to the closet to change, or closing the window, or changing the sheets. It was just second nature, something I needed to do and when I questioned it, well it was like my brain was telling me to calm down, that it wasn’t time yet and it wasn’t about me anyway. Bow noticed when I was wearing a hoodie at the gym and started asking questions, but I still didn’t really put it together, and he said to just let the feeling do its thing I guess and process it in my own time. When I realized you were in heat this morning though, that's when I felt dumb for not noticing.”

“Fuck, sometimes I can’t believe how much you love me,” Catra whispers it to herself more than anything, nuzzling into Adora’s neck further to absolutely drown herself in her scent, fisting her shirt with her sharp claws and winding her legs with Adora’s.

“Yeah baby, I really love you,” She whispers. She pulls back and gestures vaguely for Catra to do the same, and she lets out a high whine as she removes her head from Adora’s neck to look at her.

“It’s like, I can feel you, like everything about us down to our cells are connected, always have been.” Adora says, a firm conviction in her strong, steady voice.

“That was the worst part of my heats in the Horde,” Catra sniffles out, a tear gathering in the corner of her eye. “I could feel you, feel how upset you were that you couldn’t be there for me, weren’t allowed to. It was like a tugging in my chest, that hurt worse than anything else. I could always feel you, I just didn’t know if you could feel me too. You’re in my bones, Adora, like we share marrow even though we’re separate from each other. You’re everything to me, and you’re in every part of me,” the tears fell freely now. Adora reached up to brush them away with the pads of her thumbs, guiding Catra’s head forward to place gentle kisses down her forehead, along the bridge of her nose, on her cheeks, until she was a sniffling, giggling mess, finally connecting their lips.

“Baby, we haven’t had a heat like this together, and I need to know what you need from me, what would help you.”

Another whine slurs into a growl and then back to a whimper.

“I know Kitten but can you please just, please tell me you want this. I know its instinct, and I know your body wants it, but I need you to tell me that you want it too.”

“I want it Adora, I want you so bad,” The words coming out as a shuddered sob.

“What’s your safe word, Kitten? I’m going to take care of you but I need you to tell me so you know what to say if I go too far.” This part is important, she knows it is, but that doesn’t stop it from feeling like absolute torture as she clings desperately to Adora.

“Red.”

“Me too, if it gets out of hand I’ll say it too. I’ll stop us so we can regroup, ok? Now, tell me what you want.” The intensity of Adora’s gaze as she guides them toward the beginning, the start of what is to come, is mind blowing.

“Touch me,” Catra finally gasps out.

“Thank you baby, for telling me what you need. Good girl.”

The words flip a switch.

Just like that clothes are torn off, revealing pale flushed skin and tawny striped fur. Whimpers and moans, hisses and low growls fill the air. Hands are everywhere, claws and nails raking along flushed skin and silky fur. Mouths meet in desperate kisses, tongues caressing, fangs and teeth catching on swollen lower lips. Gasps and pants fan warm, dizzying breaths across faces. Catra rolls Adora onto her back and scratches at her shirt and bra leaving lines on her ribs. She leans down to bite harsh half moons down her neck, across her collarbone and down her sternum to her breasts, soothing each one over with her tongue before continuing her desperate mission to cover Adora in marks.

Adora grabs Catra’s hips, firm yet gentle, guiding her along in a way she knows she’ll appreciate. She shifts a thigh up to rub between her girlfriend’s legs, a shuddered breath catching in the woman’s throat at the contact, the friction she desperately needed. It’s frantic and quick, but slow and loving. The dichotomy of how she feels like it's too fast and too slow through each passing second is tearing her apart and she just _needs_.

Adora grasps a fistful of her hair and tugs her back from her throat, red and swollen with bite marks mixed with dots from her fangs. The accompanying groan shakes the room, her whimper of need enough to send a shiver down Adora’s spine.

“What do you need Kitten, tell me so I can give it to you.”

“I need you to take me, please. I can’t...I…please...”

Adora takes pity on her, knowing that her whimpers will only get less coherent and she won't be able to form a conscious thought at all soon.

“Shh I know sweetheart, you need me to make you feel good. I can do that for you baby, I promise,” Adora whispers, voice cracking with love as she reaches a hand up to trace her love’s jaw with the very tips of her fingers.

Catra just closes her eyes and nods, embracing the feeling of muscular arms wrapping around her, lifting her effortlessly off of the blonde’s lap and laying her down on her back in the very center of her nest. Adora shifts on top of her, using her knee to part Catra’s legs and settle between them so she can slot her thigh back against her. The desperate and relieved sob that leaves her throat at the feeling of Adora on top of her, enveloping her, loving her, is too much and not enough. She brings her legs up, hooking her ankles together around Adora’s back and tries to pull her in, grinding forward. That’s what this always was, too much and not enough. 

But she knew what she needed now. She needed to trust Adora, to let go and let her just take her without worrying about anything else. She wasn’t supposed to focus right now. She was safe, without a single threat to her or her mate. Adora, whether she knew it or not, had answered the call of Catra’s soul and had done everything in her power to make her feel secure through her heat. It was hard all those years ago, and it never came up in the time between, but now she knew. She was supposed to give in to the partner that loved her and just be taken care of. 

So she did.

Her legs fell away and her body relaxed further, turning her head to the side both to reveal her neck to Adora, surrendering to whatever her lover wanted to do to her, and burying her face into the fabric piled around her that was full of Adora’s scent. Adora caressed her chest and stomach lovingly with one hand, using the other to pull the blankets and clothing tighter to Catra’s sides, tucking her body further into the comfort of soft fabric. She wanted to protest at first, thinking her body would be too hot to nestle further into the blankets. By the time Adora’s task was complete, however, she felt herself being lulled further into that peaceful, deep headspace, their scents surrounding her and fogging her mind further. 

Of course, Adora knew what she needed even more than she did.

All she could think about as the woman atop her pulled the rest of her clothes off and left gentle kisses and loving bites along every inch of exposed skin, was that Adora had known in her body, known in her soul that Catra would need her, and took the initiative to cover every possible piece of fabric she could in her scent just so she could please her.

Adora leans down to kiss along the column of her neck, whispering her love to her with each lick, bite, and kiss that she presses into her skin.

_“I love you.”_

_“I love you so much, Kitten.”_

_“Thank you.”_

_“Thank you for trusting me.”_

_“You’re so beautiful.”_

_“You’re perfect, Catra.”_

Over and over again she repeats her love, tattooing her words with her lips and teeth until she’s covered every visible inch of her torso.

The second her lips closed around a nipple Catra lets out a hiss. Adora had heard all manner of her hisses throughout the years and her lips widened to a knowing grin as she sucked, running her tongue in soft strokes in a circle around the nub, almost feeling the pleasure course through Catra’s veins. Her own need grew, the flames licking at her as she ground her hips forward to rub against Catra harder.

As she worked the nipple with her mouth, a hand snaked up the stomach of the woman below her, palming her other breast and pinching the nipple between her thumb and forefinger. It was heaven, touching her like this always was.

For Catra it was a welcome hell, burning her from the inside out.

She rocked her hips, grinding up onto Adora’s thigh, her wetness dampening the skin there and easing her into a soothing motion.

Adora released the nipple with a gasp, “Fuck, who is all this for? Whose got you this wet, Kitten?”

“You.” She murmurs back, overloaded with heat and pleasure.

Adora hears her whimpers and moans, spurring her on as she takes full control of Catra’s hips and drags her forward and back, trying her hardest to rub her lovers’ center on her thigh just right.

The effect is instantaneous, Catra throwing her head back and gasping out, “Please, please, please,” over and over again.

Adora knows what she needs. A voice deep in her head, gravel tumbling down the walls of a quarry, comes out of her mouth, “You want to come, don’t you Kitten?”

“I...nuh...yes…please can I? Please… ah,” She whimpers.

She’s completely at Adora’s mercy, because Adora knows what she needs, knows how to get her there.

“Please what, Kitten?”

“Ah, please can I come?” The plea is desperate, dragging a deep ache from her vocal cords.

Adora runs a hand from where it rests on Catra’s hip, sliding it down to the juncture of her thighs and rubbing through the wetness there.

Catra’s eyes roll back in her head, claws digging into a muscular back. She surrenders herself to the pleasure, to the instinct she had been fighting for so long, because she knew now that nothing she felt was wrong, much less something written into her genetic code. Those same instincts drove the woman above her, their connection undeniable as she gave her everything she couldn’t even voice that she needed. Tears run down her face, the hands and lips and words coaxing her to a familiar, yet powerful peak.

The only thing that breaks through the deep trance-like state her mind was in, powerful enough to drag back the very corner of the fleece blanket over her consciousness, was the voice of the woman she loved unconditionally.

“Come for me, Kitten. Be a good girl and come for me.”

Her body stiffens and she comes undone beneath Adora, giving in to everything her body had been begging for all those times she was in heat in the Fright Zone but couldn’t bring herself to hope against the odds that Adora would want her. She knew better now though, knew that she was all Adora wanted. She rocks her hips on Adora’s hand, firm and gentle between her legs, chasing the high as shudders and shocks tore through her.

“That’s it baby. Good girl, Kitten,” Adora whispers over and over again, cradling her vulnerable body.

They stay like that, Adora whispering praises into Catra’s ear and stroking her back and sides from her spot between her legs. Catra, throat rumbling in a quiet purr to let Adora know that what just happened, what was still happening, and what was to come, was exactly what she needed.

They held each other, Adora’s arms cocooning Catra against her chest, humming in time to her matching purr. 

They were together, drifting between the stars, flowing through nebula. They were connecting in a way that was new, that they never had before, though it held that familiarity. A new house but the same candles, a street they had never turned down with the same worn cobblestone they knew.

When Catra comes down she still feels Adora rubbing her back and whispering things like ‘good girl,’ and ‘I’m so proud of you, Kitten,” into her ears as she drifts off, surrendering into the warmth and safety surrounding her. She sinks deeper and deeper into a bubble of comfort, letting Adora simply have her. As long as her love, her mate, keeps holding her, whispering in her ear and loving her she doesn’t think she cares.

And that’s exactly what Adora does.


End file.
